The biggest compliment I can give the Waterfield Developer’s Gear Case is that I didn’t know I needed it until I got my hands on one.
Waterfield reached out about sending over the case a while back and it looked interesting enough to me, so I agreed to check one out. I didn’t have high hopes for the case because, despite looking well-constructed and spacious, I found it bulky and a bit over-sized.
I figured that, because of its size, I wouldn’t be able to carry it with me on a daily basis, thus defeating its intended purpose. Then, I actually got my hands on it and I haven’t put it down since.
To be clear, my initial thoughts were right: It is a bit big and you do have to make some sacrifices in your bag to make sure you have room for it. But it’s totally worth it.
There’s room for everything you would want to carry with you on a daily basis, and so much more. There are pockets on the front of the case and several on the inside that can house cables, batteries, phones, or anything of the sort.
I keep a portable battery in the front pocket with an assortment of cables on the inside. My work companions know they can always come to me if their phone is dying because I’ll always have what they need to juice up.
The main compartment of the case is a couple of inches deep and this allows you to carry just about anything in it. There are four elastic straps to hold down gear and it keep things snug, as long as your gear is big enough.
If your gear doesn’t approach the depth of the case, the elastic straps won’t do much for you. This can get to become a bit frustrating. I’d love to see Waterfield make these a little tighter with more elasticity so you can put smaller objects inside without them sliding around.
Atop the main compartment is a divider that has two more elastic straps on one side, and mesh compartments on the other. Oh, there’s also a removable mousepad here, too.
These compartments are great for your cables, earbuds, power cables, dongles, or whatever else you can think of. The pouches on the divider do not have a zipper so they’re a little more quick-access than the mesh compartments they face.
I like that you get both options here, one compartment with a zipper and some without, so you can have more long-term storage on one side and quick access on the other. The zippers also allow you to store smaller items that could shoot out of those other compartments.
I think the perfect way to describe this case is it’s your work companion for those on the go. The main compartment is just big enough to hold my Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones, Logitech MX Master mouse, and a huge battery to keep your laptop charged up when you want to go write or edit photos at a coffee house or if you’re on a business trip.
The bulk that I was initially worried about ended up being a huge advantage. I rarely have one container that’s big enough for my larger, important tech devices like headphones, large capacity batteries, and gimbals. And, it doesn’t hurt that this thing is made out of very premium leather. To me, it’s pretty easy to justify the $129 price tag.
